/*
 * Copyright (C) 2009 Leandro de Oliveira Aparecido <lehphyro@gmail.com>
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package com.google.code.japa.repository.collection;

import java.io.*;

/**
 * A collection that represents an extent of some entity.
 *  
 * @param <T> Type of the entity whose collection represents the extent.
 * 
 * @author Leandro Aparecido
 * @since 1.0
 * @see com.google.code.japa.repository.collection.PersistentList
 * @see com.google.code.japa.repository.collection.PersistentSet
 */
public interface PersistentCollection<T> extends Serializable {
	/**
	 * Type of the entity the collection represents the extent.
	 * 
	 * @return Class of the entity.
	 */
	Class<T> getEntityType();
	
	/**
	 * Flushes the changes made to the collection since the last flush or collection creation.
	 */
	void flush();
	
}
